Patent 7533332 was granted and assigned to Microsoft on May, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A table styles inference engine determines the optimal body pattern to describe a user-created table. Optimal uniform, row banding, and column banding body patterns are determined. The user-defined table is analyzed assuming different uniform, different row banding, and/or different column banding body patterns. The optimal uniform body pattern is then determined by determining the uniform body pattern that most closely matches the user-defined table. The optimal row banding body pattern is then determined by determining the row banding body pattern that most closely matches the user-defined table. The optimal column banding body pattern is then determined by determining the column banding body pattern that most closely matches the user-defined table. From these optimal body patterns, the closest match to the user-defined table is determined to be the overall optimal body pattern. The overall optimal body pattern is then saved as a table style.